Actor Greg Finley leads a new secret life on 'Star-Crossed'

"Star-Crossed": Pictured are Greg Finley as Drake and Chelsea Gilligan as Teri. (The CW photo by Skip Bolen)

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Behind the Screens with Joshua Maloni

The biggest cheers this season on
the new CW series "Star-Crossed" have come when Drake stands up for his friends
and evens the score with some high school troublemakers.

Actor Greg Finley, who was once a
real-life troublemaker, plays Drake.

Finley grew up in Maine with
Division II basketball hopes, but hip surgery quickly derailed those plans.
Instead, he wound up at a smaller school.

"I wasn't really happy with the
way things were going," Finley said during a phone interview. "Got into some
trouble and did some things I'm not proud of."

He wound up in the hospital with
an abscess in his throat. Bedridden and depressed - at a true low-point in his
life - something unexpected happened.

"All I would do was watch movies,"
Finley said. "I never even thought of acting. My mom would just bring me stacks
of DVDs to watch when I was bedridden.

"The only time I wasn't really,
really depressed was when I was lost in these stories - these movies. And so, I
had this weird epiphany that that's what I wanted to do."

Jan. 7, 2005, Finley packed up and
drove to L.A. His family and friends were surprised, but understood Finley
needed a change of scenery.

Though he had no acting know-how,
or training, for that matter, Finley's real-life experiences gave him an advantage
when auditioning for roles.

"My life experience kind of put me
- I think it gave me an edge, the things I went through. And I think how I grew
up and stuff, it kind of gave me an edge, as far as what I'm doing right now in
my career," he said. "It's just something I thought I could do. I never really
thought about going to class or school for it. I kind of just believed it. I
kind of just knew I could do it."

Within three years, Finley found
himself a regular gig on ABC Family's "The Secret Life of the American
Teenager." He spent five years playing Jack. When that series ended, Finley
quickly found another, landing a key part in the new CW show "Star-Crossed."

"I really thought it was a cool
concept," he said. "And I really thought it was a cool story."

In "Star-Crossed," a band of tattooed
aliens flees a dying planet in search of continued existence. These visitors
crash land on Earth in 2014 and, though they mean no harm, they are quickly attacked
and forced to defend themselves.

One of the Atrians, 6-year-old Roman,
escapes and finds refuge in a Louisiana family's backyard shed. There, he is
befriended and comforted by a 6-year-old girl named Emery. The two bond over
cold pasta.

After a short time, Roman is found
by some human troops, blasted with a laser, and seemingly left for dead.

When the dust settles, the Atrians
are segregated and forced to live in a "District 9"-style "Sector" camp. Though
they are successful in starting a new life, and building families, the Atrians
are very much considered outsiders.

Ten years later, attempts are made
to integrate seven Atrians teenagers into Baton Rouge-area Marshall High School.
There, Roman (Matt Lanter) and Emery (Aimee Teegarden) are reconnected and form
something of a "Romeo and Juliet" relationship.

"Star-Crossed" is sort of a hybrid
of two classic CW shows: the first season of the revamped "90210," with a very
definitive high school caste system; and the latter seasons of "Roswell," where
aliens and humans tried to find love and freedom amidst ever-growing threats of
conflict.

The series is equal parts sci-fi, action-adventure
and romance.

"The pilot's cool, but I can be
honest and tell you that it just keeps getting way better and way better and
way better," Finley said.

"I can genuinely say that this
show is awesome," he added. "There's this whole sci-fi world that they create
that I hope people really dig, because it's amazing."

Finley's character, Drake, is the
"Atrian 7's" muscle. He is suspicious of humans, and won't stand for high
school bullying. After Roman is jumped in the hallway, Drake finds the
perpetrator and manhandles him after school.

"Drake is my favorite character
I've ever played," Finley said. "I feel like Drake is the kind of character
that all actors would want to play. He's bad-ass, but he has a heart.

"One scene, I'm crying for my mom,
because she's in prison. And the next scene I'm beating up four guys.

"It's just a cool role. It's got a
lot of arc. He's very complicated. He's very torn with this world that he's
been thrown into.

"His best friend, Roman, he
doesn't understand why Roman has so much love for these humans. He doesn't
really find out about Emery until later on.

"He's just such a fun character to
play. There's a lot of levels to Drake."

Lanter leads a talented,
up-and-coming young-Hollywood cast.

"I have to admit, I was really
impressed with Matt's (work)," Finley said. "He's really talented, and I feel
like he really does carry the show for us. He does his thing, and he is so
great.